Gas prices tank

Several Abilene stations are charging less than $2 per gallon

Reporter-News Photo by Ronald W. Erdrich
Larry Beauchamp passes the time waiting in line for gas at a Valero station on Buffalo Gap Road on Wednesday by washing his windshield. The station was one of a few in the city offering gas for below $2 a gallon for the first time since 2006.

• H-E-B -- 1345 Barrow St. & S. 14th St.

• Valero -- 4442 Buffalo Gap Road

• Allsup's -- 2334 S. 14th St.

• Chillerz -- 1109 S. Treadaway Blvd.

• Shell -- 2972 S. Treadaway Blvd.

• Shell -- 1109 S. Treadaway Blvd.

In just five months, Abilene consumers have seen gasoline prices cut in half, dipping below $2 per gallon Wednesday for the first time since late 2006.

"It's great," said Dawn Jenkins as she filled up with $1.99 per gallon gasoline at a station on S. 11th Street and Treadaway Boulevard. "I didn't think it would (go under $2), so I'm glad it did."

While consumers are ecstatic with gas prices dropping below the $2 per gallon level, the outlook for gasoline prices is anybody's guess.

"What's happened the last couple of weeks with gas prices is just an enormous change," said Dan Ronan, media relations manager for AAA Texas and New Mexico. "All of a sudden the bottom fell out. Whether or not that's going to stay the same I don't know."

People like Jenkins getting gas didn't give the gas pumps any breaks at 3 p.m. Wednesday, as cars filled the lot and others waited their turns.

According to Abilene Reporter-News files, Wednesday was the first day gas has been under $2 per gallon since Sept. 28, 2006. That summer gasoline hovered at the $3 per gallon range around Abilene.

Consumers may be learning their lessons. Even with lower gas prices, Jenkins said she is driving no more or less than when prices were higher.

"I always have that fear in the back of my head that it's going to go back up," Jenkins said.

Ronan has watched drivers' trends and thinks conservative fuel consumption could be long term.

"I think the changes that we've seen over the last couple of months, in terms of driving habits, are really permanent changes," Ronan said. "When people saw $4-a-gallon gas in the summertime, they said, 'That's enough. We don't need to be going back to that anymore.'"

Ronan said that miles driven by motorists are down 5.8 percent from this time last year and that driving was down during summer holidays this year.

However, looking forward is more difficult to do in today's volatile market.

"I probably drive a little more," Abilene resident Ty Hill said.

Other drivers who have noticed the daily slide in gas prices said their driving habits are unchanged.

"I still drive very much the same," said Hayley Byrom of Merkel.

Ronan said that with the situation the economy is in, he can't tell how drivers will respond with such low prices.

"The trend over the last few weeks is that oil is dropping pretty significantly," Ronan said. "Where's it going to go? I don't know."